Is Your Opt-In Out of Date? Signs It’s Time to Refresh or Replace

If you have the same opt-in that you have had for a year or more, there is a possibility that you need to improve, refresh, or replace it. If you want more people to sign up, you’ll need to determine what’s going wrong with your current set-up so that you can fix those issues and improve your opt-in rate.

Here are nine signs that your opt-in is out of date.

1. Performance Has Gone Down – If you’re not getting sign-ups at the same rate you were when you first set up your opt-in form, then something is probably wrong. It may simply be that you’re not promoting it enough or it’s not obvious enough. But, if performance hasn’t gone down, that doesn’t mean it can’t go up with a few tweaks.

2. You Have Too Many Steps – Some audiences don’t want to fill out a super-long form to get the freebie that you’re offering or access to the content upgrade you’re offering. They get frustrated if they go in and out of their email to get your offer too and don’t follow through. If your method is long, try shortening it to see if that improves sign-ups. You can use email messages and other means to get more information over time.

3. No One Can Find Your Opt-In Form – Many people are quite timid about their newsletters and their freebies. They hide them in the sidebar and no one ever sees them, since there is nothing that stands out about it. Today, you have a lot of technology at your fingertips to create opt-in forms that truly stand out.

4. Your Opt-Ins Aren’t Targeted or Segmented – Every segment of your audience will not want or desire the same lead magnet. That’s why adding in content upgrades based on the content they are reading is more helpful sometimes than a sign-up form on the sidebar that offers a general freebie to your entire audience.

5. Your Opt-Ins Aren’t Forms – If you’re using links for your opt-ins without a form, then you’re missing an opportunity to make your opt-in look super-impressive and get their attention. You can use a variety of different types of opt-in forms, from lightbox pop-ups to forms that pop up when the cursor is pointing to the underlined word that you wanted to highlight for a content upgrade.

6. Your Opt-In Copy Is Non-Existent – Your opt-in is as important as your products. It is a product even though it’s free. When you think of it as a product, you realize you need to sell it just like you do a paid product. You don’t want to be long-winded, but you do want to tell them why it’s beneficial for them to sign up and what they get when they do.

7. Your Subscribe Buttons Are Boring – Don’t just say “sign up” – say something that really hits your audience with the meaning of signing up. What will they get if they sign up? “Get more good news daily” sounds a lot better than “Sign up here” on a button.

8. You Don’t Offer Lead Magnets – If you’re expecting people to sign up for your email list without giving them anything, it’s not going to work. A promise of a free newsletter won’t get you sign-ups because they want to know what’s in it for them, and a gift immediately is what’s in it for them for now.

9. You’re Still Calling Your Email List a Newsletter – Sorry, but in most cases, no one wants your newsletter. They want great information that helps them solve their problems. If you’re still calling it a newsletter, you may want to change that to something more descriptive of what they’re getting. For example, “Don’t miss out on updates, exclusive content, and other opportunities” is better than “Sign up for my newsletter.”

The fact is, if you’re not proud of what you’re offering your audience, you probably aren’t shouting it from the rooftops. But, if you are proud, then you’re going to tell everyone you know about it in a proud way that makes people want to sign up for your opt-in, get on your list, and open your email messages.